Revenge
by MagicByMerlin
Summary: A revengeful boy kidnaps Merlin and holds him to ransom in an ancient temple. Can Arthur save him?
1. Chapter One

Arthur placed a foot on the windowsill and lent on his arm whilst looking out of the window absent-mindedly. He had woken only moments before for some reason he could not explain and had not been able to fall asleep again so he had taken to staring up at the stars through his bedroom window. If asked he would never admit to any one that he sometimes did this, just gaze up at the night sky and survey its endless depths. He had done this since before he could remember and knew every star by name. Of course he hadn't known them without first studying them, which he had done when he had first discovered his interest in them.

The constellation on Pleiades, or more widely known as the Seven Sisters was shining brightly tonight and he could just see the reddish orange outline of Mars in the far distance. The stars fascinated him. They just went on forever and ever, never seeming to stop. Arthur tried to contemplate the sheer size of it all but it made him feel small and vulnerable. He didn't like the feeling so he stuck to just gazing out of the window with a glazed expression on his face.

He stayed there for hours until he fell asleep on the windowsill and the bright light of the morning sun burst from behind a cloud and flooded the room in rays of gold. The light woke Arthur from a pleasant dream, which was more than welcome after his half sleepless night. It's Morgana's job to sleep badly, he thought and shook himself properly awake.

He dressed himself and whilst doing so discovered that his laundry needed doing. Where was that lazy so and so Merlin when you need him? He was late yet again but Arthur was quite used to it by now. Merlin was probably the worst servant he had ever had the misfortune to come across but he was also his best friend so he couldn't stay angry with him for long. As Arthur thought, the said person entered the room.

"Sorry I'm late…again…but there was this mouse you see-"

"Save the accuses for when you need them Merlin. Who knows, they might actually come in handy one day!" Arthur came out from behind his screen and sat down on his chair. As he sat there was a strange noise, like a cracking of wood. The two young men looked around in search of the noise. Suddenly, with a yelp, Arthur crashed to the ground as the chair beneath him crumbled, a spray of dust swamping the air.

"To many banquets?" Merlin asked innocently, an amused grin bursting on to his face. Arthur sat sprawled on the remainders of the chair like a daddy long legs for a moment before scrambled up and gaping at the debris of chair, somewhat astonished.

"My chair?!" He knelt down beside his cherished piece of furniture. He wasn't that sentimental but this particular chair had been in the Pendragon family for longer than he could remember, perhaps even longer than his father could remember. Picking up a snapped piece of what was once the chairs leg he inspected it. There were unmistakable long passages of small holes working their way down the entire length of the beautiful oak.

"Woodworms?" Merlin said over Arthur's shoulder.

"Looks that way." Arthur said, a dispirited look on his face.

"I can have the carpenter fix it if you want?"

"It's beyond repair…" Arthur whined.

"Don't be stupid! The carpenter can easily fix that!" Merlin waved his hand at the chair. It wasn't that bad. The legs would defiantly need replacing but the actual seat and the back were fine.

"I guess…Ok go get it mended."

"Will do." Merlin picked up the remainders of the chair and made for the door.

"Oh, hang on." Arthur remembered he needed his clothes washing and threw the heap of dirty linen at Merlin who just managed to catch it while still grasping firmly onto the chair.

"I want to see myself in the belt buckles so make sure they're properly polished before you come back. Ok?"

"Yes sire…" Merlin groused and managed to invent away of opening the door with his arms full of chair and clothes. Arthur grunted and went to sit on his chair but too late realized that it wasn't there and for the second time that day found himself stranded on the floor. Merlin achieved a chuckle before the door swung itself shut and Arthur threw a "shut up" look back at him.

"Can you repair it?" Merlin asked the carpenter who was frowning down at the wreckage of chair with a weary look on his face.

"Yes, I think so. It'll be difficult. Could take a long time but with a little persuasion…" The carpenter trailed off, hinting what he wanted a tip. Sighing Merlin dug into his pockets and brought out a few gold coins, which he handed to the man who more snatched than took them.

Arthur owed him for this.

"When shall I come and pick it up?"

"Ooh…a week or so I should say. It could be done in a matter of days if…" Once again he trailed off with a hopeful look on his face.

"Err…no a weeks fine!" Merlin hurried out before the carpenter could pilfer any more of his cash.

He walked a little way through the town, noticing with some amusement that someone besides him was in the stocks today. The poor fellow was being pelted with a large assortment of fruit and vegetables including a couple of leeks that judging by the smell had long been off. Merlin wondered what he had done to disserve this treatment.

Probably nothing.

Suddenly there was a tug on his shirt. He looked down and saw a small boy, no more than ten years old with dark brown hair and a small plait going down the back of his neck, was latched onto his leg. For some reason he looked oddly familiar.

"Urm…can I help you?" Merlin's forehead crumpling with surprise.

"Are you Merlin?" The boys voice was not an innocent squeak like most children his age but instead had a sorrowful tinge to it, like the boy was upset about something.

"Yes. Who are you?" Merlin asked. The boys appearance was defiantly ringing bells but Merlin couldn't quite think why.

"My name is Benjamin."

"Oh." Merlin would normally have said something along the lines of "nice to meet you Benjamin" but there was something about the kid that unnerved him.

"Can you help me?" The child looked up at him with huge blue eyes.

"What do you need?" Merlin asked, while wishing the small boy would refrain from clinging to his leg like a leach.

"My horse is stuck in some mud not a mile from Camelot. Can you come and help him out?"

"Can you not have your guardian do it? I'm sort of busy." Merlin said, remembering Arthur's washing.

"I travel alone."

"Why?! You can only be ten at most?!"

"Please…!" The boy suddenly looked as though he could at any moment unleash a tidal wave of tears.

"Ok, ok! Come on, show me where it is." Merlin took the boys hand that was offered to him. He wondered how the boy had known his name and also why he seemed to have come especially for his help. Merlin had been taught not to trust strangers by his mother but what harm could this small boy do him? Having made up his mind he followed Benjamin through the busy town.

As Benjamin had said, his horse was only a mile or so from the town and was indeed stuck in mud. Merlin surveyed the filthy bog with contempt. It was bigger than he thought and most certainly smellier. Benjamin looked up at Merlin expectantly. Merlin shifted on the spot. Mostly because of the strange boys gaze but also because the marshy, bog looked deep. The horse was stranded on a smallish island in the middle and there was about three or four meters of marsh with an unknown depth between it and dry land.

"How did you get it stuck in there?!" Merlin asked.

"A fox spooked it and it jumped." Was the short reply.

Merlin craned his neck to see if there was anyway of getting through the mire without ending up with half of it in his mouth. He came to the conclusion there wasn't and reluctantly handed Benjamin his coat and scarf.

"Egh!" He groaned as he tentatively squelched a foot into the grassy wetness of the bog. The water was cold, slimy and wrought with seaweed like plants. Merlin was quite sure something was moving under his feet but chose to ignore it. A few steps in and he was up to his waist in the quagmire and finding it difficult to move.

"Umm…I think I'm kind of stuck…" Merlin twisted his feet in the mud but the more he did the more cemented into the muck they became.

"Finally! I thought you were never going to!" Benjamin's voice said. Except it wasn't his voice. It was harsh and cruel; completely different from the innocent little boy it had been before.

Merlin snapped his head round.

"What?"

"Kea jama lefrea nomondea lefta com thantro." The boy ignored Merlin and began muttering quietly, malice dripping from his voice.

Merlin, with a jolt realized that the words the boy had spoken were of the magical kind. Unfortunately he realized too late.


	2. Chapter Two

Where is he? How long does it take to get a chair mended? Lazy excuse for a…hang on what's that? Arthur had been asking himself a few pointless questions when suddenly he noticed an out of place bit of material on the spotless stone floor of his chambers. Getting up from his perch on the windowsill he strode over to the floors obstruction. He bent down and picked the object up. It was a sock. One of his. It stank.

Grimacing at the abhorrent aroma of the sock he flung it into a corner for Merlin to find later. Speaking of which where is he? He asked himself again, wondering where his servant was. He had hoped to do a bit of battle practice that afternoon but he had given Merlin his sword to polish and now, as Merlin was nowhere to be found, he didn't know where it was. Well I'm probably going to have to go and find that shirking friend of mine, he thought leaving his room and strolling the castle corridors like he owned the place, which he did.

He checked the carpenters, all over the town, everywhere in the castle and still not having found Merlin he turned to the court physician's quarters in hope that he might be there.

"Gaius? Is Merlin in there? I need my sword." He said, rapping his knuckles on the door.

The door opened to reveal Gaius, his eyebrow raised to mountainous heights.

"No. He's not here. But your sword is." Gaius said and went away to some unknown region of his office to fetch the sword.

Arthur wondered where on earth his friend could be. He defiantly wasn't in the castle.

He would probably have to comb through the town again with an eagle's eye. He took the sword from Gaius, sheathed it in his scabbard and set off back to the town.

After his fruitless search of the town he returned to the castle somewhat worried. It was dark now and it wasn't like Merlin to disappear for so long. He wondered if Gaius had also noticed Merlin's absence so he made his way back to the doctor's chambers. He went in to find the old man pouring over an assortment of jars, test tubes and bottles.

"Arthur? Are you ill?" Gaius looked up, concernedly.

"No, no. I just wondered if you've seen Merlin since this morning because I haven't. I sent him of to the carpenters to have my chair mended and I haven't seen him since."

"No. I haven't seen him since this morning."

"Oh…well do you have any idea where he is?"

"Have you tried to town?"

"Twice."

"The carpenters?"

"Was the first on my list."

"Strange…oh well I'm sure it's nothing. He'll be in for work for tomorrow. Don't worry."

"Yeah…good night."

"Good night sire."

Arthur left, thinking that maybe Merlin had gone for a walk or something. He walked down the corridors admiring the magnificence of the pillars. He had lived in the castle since he was born but the beauty of the place still fascinated him and he marvelled at how detailed and precisely the stonemason had created the pillars and columns.

He shook himself. He was beginning to think like Merlin, appreciating the smaller, less significant things in life that nobody else cared for. On second thoughts maybe that wasn't such a bad thing, Arthur smiled to himself as he closed the door of his room behind him.

Merlin was not sure were he was. This was partly because he had not opened his eyes. He felt that if he moved a single muscle then he would throw up. Ever since he had woken, whether that had been minutes or hours ago he didn't know, he had felt a horrible nauseating feeling that his brains had been spun into mush and the rest of him had been trampled on by several large horses. The last thing he remembered was Benjamin casting a spell and a gale of cold wind icing him over and then he had been here. But where was here?

Carefully he flickered his eyes open, only to shut them again as he felt his stomach churning. Well this was no good if he couldn't even open his eyes!

He tried to access where he was by feeling the ground with his hands that where by his sides. He was on his back, or so he thought, and on a cold, hard stone floor. The floor was smooth and wet with definite patches of moss here and there. Also there was a smell of dampness and old things that reminded Merlin of one of Gaius's really old books. It wasn't a bad smell but it wasn't a good one ether. It was quite warm and humid in this place, wherever it was.

Once again he attempted to open his eyes and succeeded though it made him feel sicker than ever. Blinking with queasiness he looked up at the ceiling. What he saw astonished him.

The roof wasn't very far away but it was clear that it was far away enough to belong to a large room. It was made of huge stone slabs of about six foot by six foot and was of a greenish grey colour, which was mostly because of the moss and shrubs that were growing from it. It also looked pretty old as there were cracks and missing slabs that led up and up into darkness. He wondered where the light was coming from for there was light in the room. Dull, shadowy and with a greenish tinge yes but not pitch black.

He considered sitting up but it felt that if he did he would probably faint with the horrible headache that was consuming his cranium. It felt like somebody had taken a large rolling pin to his brain and relentlessly bashed it for hours and hours on end. Groaning he closed his eyes again. He wondered how long he had been unconscious because he was in a completely different place to where he last remembered being. This was all the doing of that strange boy, Benjamin who had cast a spell on him. He must be a powerful sorcerer indeed to have done whatever it was he did as Merlin felt like he would rather die than continue feeling so queasy.


	3. Chapter Three

"This is getting ridiculous! He's never been this late before!" Arthur told a wall angrily. He wanted his clothes and when he had gone to where all the castle clothes where cleaned the people there had said they had not seen Merlin for ages and had most definitely not seen him yesterday.

Well there was nothing for it; he was going to have to search everywhere again. He thought he might as well start at Gaius's office, as that was probably the most likely place he would find Merlin so he started trudging off to the physician's quarters yet again.

He briefly reflected that he had never gone to the physicians place so many times in one week. This would be his third visit in two days. Gaius must be quite sick of seeing him by now. However, Arthur eventually arrived at the doctor's door and knocked loudly on it.

"Merlin? Is that you?" The door flung open and an angry face of Gaius showed itself.

"So he hasn't come back since yesterday then I take it?" Arthur said, letting himself in as Gaius went bustling away.

"No, I haven't seen him since yesterday morning. His bed hasn't been slept in, all of his things are still there and I've been in here all day yesterday and today and I haven't seen a sign of him! I don't have a clue where he is." Gaius looked rather flustered.

"Nobody has seen him in the laundry room ether. The carpenter has the chair and the I imagine he would have gone straight to the laundry room after that because he had my washing to do so he must have disappeared on his way there." Arthur deduced, impressed with himself.

"Yes, that seems logical…" Gaius looked up at the ceiling in thought.

"And that would have been early morning yesterday so he's been gone twenty four hours. He's not done that before."

"I'm sure he's ok…" Gaius said in a voice, which told Arthur that he was anything but.

"I'm going to search the castle and town again. If you see him send him to my chambers and make sure he takes the washing with him." Arthur said, making for the door.

"Yes sire." Gaius bowed as Arthur left.

After another unsuccessful search of the town and castle Arthur returned to his chambers a mixture of anger and anxiousness stabbing at his insides. He was angry because he was anxious and anxious because he angry. He went into his room hoping to find Merlin with a sheepish "sorry" look on his face and a pile of clean clothes but he was sorely disappointed. Sighing heavily he slumped down on his bed and yanked off his boots.

He waited a few more hours in his room having nothing better to do until it started to become dark with the dull light of dusk flooding his room.

Resting his head on a pillow he stared up at the roof of his four-poster and wondered what had happened to his friend. Suddenly there came a quick sharp rap at the door disturbing him from his thoughts. He got up, went to the door and opened it.

That was strange. There was no one there. Arthur peered out from the door and looked down each way of the corridor to see nobody. Not even a hint of somebody. Thinking it was some servant on a mission to knock and run he turned to go back to his room and almost missed a small envelope of paper that was sat on the floor, inches from the door.

Frowning he bent down and picked up the parchment. It had no address on the front, just a clear space and no seal no the back. Forehead crumpled, he eyed the letter curiously and returned to his room. He sat on his bed having no chair to use and opened the letter, wary of what it might say. He found it to be written in a hand he did not recognize, long curly letters that looked almost foreign.

_Prince Arthur of Camelot,_

_I am sure by now that you have noticed the absence of your servant Merlin. I, of course can explain his disappearance, as I am responsible for his kidnapping. Yes, I a mere boy have kidnapped this great warlock. But why have I done this? That is a question easily answered Prince Arthur. Revenge. It's a dish best served warm. _

_I am sure that I have you're unwavering attention by now if I had not earlier as much as I am sure you remember Nimueh. She was my sister until Merlin murdered her. I now seek revenge on Merlin and everything he holds dear. That includes you. _

_I am holding Merlin captive in the Valley of the Shadows in the temple of Ae'rathma. I will kill him if you do not turn yourself in by the time the moon is full in two days time. _

_But why should I turn myself in when that is surely a trap and it will result in us both being killed I hear you ask. Also a simple question that is easily answered. There are creatures in the temple of Ae'rathma that are at my command. I will unleash them on Camelot if you should not be at the valley at the time I specified. _

_Oh and by the way, If your father or anyone else should hear of this and I should meet Camelot's soldiers at the temple I shall kill Merlin and unleash the creatures both. I am positive that you, by now have a great deal to think about so I shall leave you to think over this offer. Camelot or Merlin. Your choice. _

Arthur's head was filled. It was simply filled. He couldn't think over so many things at once and he was having a brain melt down. Why had the writer of the letter called Merlin a great warlock? Why had he said that Merlin had murdered Nimueh? Arthur didn't even know she was dead! What were these creatures that the letter spoke of? What was Arthur going to do now? His head was spinning and his vision was clouded with so many thoughts. He read the letter again to make sure he'd got it all right. He noticed that the letter had not been signed but he knew that the writer was Nimueh's brother. Also he could tell nobody of this or two bads would happen. Arthur cleared his mind as best he could and read the letter yet again.

"Kidnapped this great warlock…revenge…murdered Nimueh…Valley of the Shadows…temple…kill…creatures…" Arthur read a few snippets of the letter almost on the verge of tears, not knowing what emotion to express he had so many. He rattled himself furiously. Princes don't cry he told himself savagely, blinking away the tears. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his hand holding the letter scrunching into a fist and crushing the letter.

He was angry. Angrier than he had ever been before. How dare somebody kidnap his best friend?! How dare they write such a letter?! How dare they?!

Calm down Arthur, he told himself. Getting angry isn't going to solve anything. But what was then? He would have gone to his father or even Gaius at this point and consulted them on what to do. They had far more experience than him and could really help but Arthur couldn't risk it when the letter had threatened to kill Merlin if he did. Somehow he was going to have to work this one out by himself. He suddenly wondered what Merlin would say to him if he were present. Arthur could hear his voice inside his head telling him what to do.

"Come and rescue me. You're clever. You can find a way! Don't give up hope."

"I don't know how!" Arthur told the Merlin he had created inside his mind.

"I just said you were clever! If I know you at all then you will save the day. You always do!"

Arthur sighed. Was he loosing it? He was having conversations with himself. He shook his head and lay back on his bed again, his mind going over and over all the options he had.


	4. Chapter Four

Merlin was still lying on his back, feeling groggy when suddenly a horribly loud grinding noise echoed of the walls giving the impression that the whole place (where ever that was) was crumbling apart. Merlin tried to move and find out where the bone-crushing sound was coming from and found that he could actually lift his head, which was a victory, if small, as he could only just manage to open his eyes before. He saw that he was in a huge room clearly from ancient times as there was moss, shrubs and cracks covering the time worn stone floor.

There were statues carved into the walls that looked like people that had been crossed with grotesque fantasy creatures with long spears in their hands. Most of the figures had deteriorated from the long amount of time they had spent there and they were missing arms, noses and other parts of their faces. At the front of the cavernous room was an extremely tall double door that was not something you would easily forget. It had massive patterns and symbols running all the way up it and like the statues had worn away to only slight lines and grooves.

Merlin gaped at this incredible room with nothing short of stupefaction. But what was the grinding noise that boomed and clanged deep beneath the ground? It was the doors. They were opening.

The gigantic doors were sliding open, scraping across the floor and the mechanism that opened them was crunching under the floor and all around. Its progress was slow and you couldn't blame it, as it was probably up to a hundred tons in weight. Eventually they opened to reveal a small figure in a large sweeping cape standing eerily in silence like a ghost. The figure began to walk forward slowly, its footsteps tapping around the room, breaking the silence. As it drew closer Merlin recognized it to be the young boy Benjamin who had asked him for help earlier. It was still the same boy but he looked so different from the small wide-eyed kid that he had been before.

Benjamin seemed to have grown taller and had an older more mature look on his face. He had lost the baby eyes and had adopted cruel, harsh, smouldering, blue pits that if looks could kill Merlin would have died ages ago. At length Benjamin came close enough to Merlin that if he wanted to he could touch him.

"Who are you?" Merlin croaked, still under the effects of whatever magic the boy had done on him. Of course he knew the kids name but he wanted to know _who_ he was and what he wanted with him.

"You remember Nimueh do you not? The one you murdered in cold blood." The boy began to walk slowly around Merlin.

"Yes…but I didn't kill her in cold blood." Merlin replied. He wasn't proud of killing Nimueh but he had had no other choice.

"It makes little difference!" The boy spat. "She was my sister."

If Merlin had been on his feet he would have reeled but as he wasn't he settled for widening his eyes to ridiculously huge sizes. Now he knew why the kid had look familiar to him earlier. The family resemblance was uncanny.

"You are Nimueh's brother?!" He gasped.

"Yes."

"And you are a sorcerer like she was?!"

"She was always the more powerful in the family. I was powerful to but she was still the one who got all the praise. She would tell people not to forget me but they did anyway. She cared for me like no one else did and you killed her."

Merlin swallowed remembering the awful day.

"I vowed to take revenge and nursed my powers to what they are today. I am far more impressive than you."

"I wouldn't underestimate me if I were you."

Benjamin blatantly ignored Merlin and continued his speech, venom dripping from his words.

"And so now I have you. Of course I will not settle for simply killing you. That is to common, to boring. No. I have sent a letter to Prince Arthur informing him of your location. I have threatened to unleash creatures on Camelot if he should not be here in two days time. He has no other option but to comply."

"And you plan to kill us both?" Merlin presumed.

"Naturally."

"Do you really want to do this? You're only a child!" Merlin tried to voice reason to the boy.

"And that means I am not allowed to take revenge for my sister? I think not."

Merlin had to admit he had a point. The boy could only have been eleven or twelve at the very most but he had a very mature quality about him that almost gave him the presence of a grown man.

"What did you do to me?" Merlin said, referring to the sick feeling that still consumed his body.

"I Teleported us both. I am guessing you feel pretty ill now. People always do on their first teleport."

"Teleport?! Is it hard? I've never been able to do it!" Merlin couldn't help being interested but suddenly realized that he was being a little too friendly with his kidnapper.

"Not for me." Benjamin bragged.

"Whatever you say." Merlin snorted.

There was an awkward pause and an eerie wind blew through the room like a breath of a huge beast that made Merlin shiver.

"I am sure you would like to know where you are." The boy suddenly said, once again breaking the silence and making Merlin flinch. There was something about this place that said, no shouted "SILENCE IS GOLDEN" but Benjamin seemed to have no respect for this warning.

"I would."

"This is the temple of the heathen god of old, Ae'rathma. The Valley of Shadows is his domain."

Merlin would have replied but he was beginning to feel woozy again and his head dropped onto the cold floor again.

"You'll recover soon…unfortunately." Benjamin said and without another word left.

Well…there's nothing for it. I'm going to have to rescue him, Arthur told himself reluctantly, and I'm gonna have to do it alone. He had come to the decision that he was going to go to this…Valley of Shadows to the temple of Ae'rathma and rescue Merlin. He desperately wanted to talk to somebody about this newest plight but he couldn't. He had just packed a rucksack and was preparing to leave immediately when there came a knock on the door.

"Sire?" A voice called. It was Gaius.

"Come in." Arthur said, hurriedly hiding his rucksack and cramming the letter into his pocket. Gaius came in and stood quietly by the wall. Arthur was sorely reminded of Merlin coming to tell him to not go to a tournament or warning him about snakes in a shield. His insides sunk as he realized how much he owed that skinny friend of his.

"Merlin hasn't come back yet." Gaius said.

"Yes?" Arthur said carefully, not wanting to even hint that he knew where Merlin was.

"I'm worried."

"Don't be. I…umm…he's gonna be fine." Arthur stuttered.

"He's completely disappeared! Gwen noticed and she's been asking questions…"

"Really…" Arthur bit his lip and rocked on his feet nervously. He didn't have time to talk to Gaius when he had to find a place he didn't even know existed until a few minutes ago and also he didn't want to accidentally let something slip. He had a feeling that whoever had written the letter would know he had told someone even without hearing him first hand.

"Are you all right sire?" It seemed Gaius had noticed his nervousness.

"Huh…yes…I…umm…I need to go…away…Tell my father I've gone for a hunting trip or…or something…" Arthur spluttered seizing his rucksack and diving for the door.

"Sire?" Gaius said, confused as Arthur ran out the door.

"No time! Deer to be shot! Rabbits to trap!" Arthur called back and legged it to the stables. That was a little too close for comfort.

He saddled his horse and strapped his rucksack to it, also stuffing a map he had grabbed in with it. He stole a few seconds looking at the map. There was a bowl shaped symbol on it marked Valley of Shadows and in the middle of the bowl was a pyramid kind of thing that Arthur guessed was the temple. He was going to have to ride fast if he was to get there in one day. It was pretty far to go. He noticed that the bit around the bowl was grey, unlike the golden brown of the map but he ignored it.


	5. Chapter Five

Merlin, as Benjamin had said, had recovered from his nauseating feeling though had not been able to lose the headache. He was still feeling groggy so when he stood up he lost his vision for a second and stumbled back a few steps. Groaning and clutching his throbbing head with a hand he looked around his surroundings only to see a horrible sight.

There was a huge statue, tall and spindly with four long thin arms, a cruel curved beak, horrid shiny eyes and black/green feathers. Its hands, bony, long and all four of them, were outstretched and cupped together. Merlin was standing on them. He suddenly felt he should get off the palms of this monster. Its hands were some way from the ground so he hurriedly clambered down its leg, using its feathers as hand and foot holds. Once on the floor the statues eyes seemed to follow him around. It was horribly unnerving.

He assumed that he was free to roam the room but no further as there was a lever to open the huge doors but it had been completely broken off and it was impossible to open them that way. He tried to open the doors with his magic but they were far too heavy to move more than a few centimetres before he became exhausted.

It was all very well to be able to romp around the room but after a while of trying to find secret passages and having no success Merlin became quite disheartened. Benjamin had chosen this room very well. There really was no way out other than the doors. The lurid statues eyes kept following him about and he found nowhere, where he could escape from its all-seeing gaze. He had almost given up looking for a way out when he had an idea.

He observed the statue for a moment, accessing whether it was safe to climb. He came to the conclusion that it was but only if he avoided the broken away parts of the ancient stone.

As he began climbing the hundred-foot monster he found that it wasn't going to be as easy as he had first thought. The detail on the stone was very fine and as it had been there for as long as anyone could imagine it was very crumbly. It was hard going but eventually he reached the top of its head. He had to stoop, as the ceiling of the room was only a meter or so from the statues head. Its head was pretty big (as was the rest of it) and Merlin could easily walk around on it without falling off after a few steps. However it was moss covered and wet and he had to be very cautious not to slip and fall to certain death. His first thought was to search the floor of its head in case there was some kind of hatch or something. He ferreted about the foliage for a few minutes and eventually found something. At first glance it looked like a square pebble or rock but if you looked twice you would see that it was actually a button of sorts. He tried pushing it, pulling it, turning it, kicking it, jumping on it and even talking to it but to no avail. He was convinced that it was a secret lever or something towards that direction but it just wouldn't open. It finally occurred to him to use magic and he searched the furthest regions of his brain for a spell that would work on it.

"Indirubin jasm notornis pelorus." He said quietly to the rock. For a second nothing happened but suddenly the square button opened. I cannot explain it any better than it just simply opened. It kept opening, folding outwards, until it began moving onto the head of the beastly statue. Eventually it had gone so far that a person could fit through it.  
Merlin crouched down and peered over the edge of the hole. It was black as black could be inside and he couldn't tell how far down it went. He picked up a pebble and threw it in to the hole hoping to estimate how far down it went by how long it would take to get to the bottom. He turned his head to one side so that he could tell exactly when the rock hit the bottom. Suddenly something small, hard and painful hit him in the face. He fell back with surprise and searched around for what had hit him. He found the pebble that he had thrown down the hole. How could it be the same stone though? He stared over the side of the hole again. A person must have thrown it back up. Mustn't they?

"Hello?" Merlin called down the hole but there was no reply.

He strained his ears to hear even the smallest sound but was only met by silence. What now? It could be miles or meters to the bottom. Should he risk it? He dropped the pebble into the hole again just to be sure and once again it flew up and clattered to the floor. Taking a deep breath and swallowing a lump that had grown in his throat Merlin prepared to jump. He swung his legs down into the darkness and suddenly found his throat was dry.

Just jump, he told himself, it certainly can't be as bad as being in here with that thing. He was referring to the statue. It was so unnerving, the way it just stared at you like it could kill you with its gaze. Merlin thought that if he stayed in the room with it for much longer it might. Taking another deep breath he jumped.

Arthur had followed the map for sometime and he was getting close but it was also getting dark. He had made good progress and he had time to rest so now he was in search of a town or village that would take him in for the night. According to the map there should been one in the next mile or so. Arthur prodded his horse in the sides with his heels and it galloped on ever faster.

Eventually he came to the little village. It reminded him of the small town in Scotland that he and Merlin had stayed at a few months ago after their shipwreck. It had small houses dotted about close together with straw roofs and wooden walls. It also reminded him vividly of Merlin's home village Ealdor. Wait a minute…he recognized that chicken…he'd know _that_ chicken anywhere. This was Ealdor!

He goggled down at the map and sure enough it was. How could I have missed that? Well it was pretty dark and he had been riding a horse but even so…

He was now in the centre of the village and he was defiantly recognizing a lot of stuff. There was that well and that fence and there was Merlin's mother. Merlin's mother?! Arthur suddenly wondered what he was going to say to her. He couldn't exactly say that her son had been kidnapped by a homicidal manic.

"Is that…Prince Arthur! Your majesty!" She recognized him and bowed.

"Hunith." Arthur dismounted his horse and bit his lip, still not knowing what to say.

"Why are you here? Is Merlin with you?" She stood up from her bow. Arthur wished people wouldn't bow to him. He was just a human like everyone else. He reflected on how much he used to love it when people bowed and curtsied to him whenever he went by but now he just did want them to. He had Merlin to thank for that.

"No…he's not with me…"

"Oh…how is he?"

"He's…fine…" Arthur lied. Hunith beamed like the sun.

"Why are you here? Can I do anything for you?"

"I…well yes. I was wondering if I could stay the night. I'm going…somewhere tomorrow."

"Of course! Where are you headed?"

"The Valley of Shadows…"

Hunith's eyes suddenly went from friendly to terrified as she heard the name.

"Why would you go there?! It must be awfully important!"

Arthur thought quickly. Should he tell her what was really going on? She should know. But was it right to make her worry? He decided she had a right to know. Merlin was her son after all.

"I'm going because of Merlin. He's been kidnapped." He said rather bluntly. Hunith just stood and stared for a moment before recovering her wits.

"By who?"

"I don't know."

"I…uhh…come inside. Tell me everything." Hunith beckoned Arthur towards her hut. Arthur tied his horse to a nearby post and followed her into the basic house. He found her slumped on a bench, a glazed look in her eyes. Arthur shuffled his feet agitatedly and waited for her to say something. After what seemed like a lifetime she did.

"What did he do to get kidnapped?"

"Well I don't really know. I have this letter…" Arthur delved into his pocket and produced the parchment, which he handed to Hunith. She took the letter and began reading it. Only a few second in of reading she suddenly gasped.

"Don't worry! He's not going to die!" Arthur immediately tried to comfort her, thinking she was scared about that particular bit of the letter.

"No! No! What do you make of that?" She held the paper up and pointed furiously at the sentence, which said, "Yes, I a mere boy have kidnapped this great warlock."

"Which bit?" Arthur said stupidly, wondering whether she meant the bit about the boy or about warlocks.

"The bit…never mind…" Merlin's mother suddenly sat down once more. Arthur shifted uncomfortably again. Why had she go so worked up about that particular sentence? That brought him to the question that he had asked himself earlier. Why had the writer called Merlin a great warlock? Why had he called Merlin a warlock at all? He was disturbed from his thoughts by Hunith.

"You are going to save him aren't you?!" Hunith asked, her voice drenched in concern.

"Yes. I am." Arthur said firmly.

Hunith nodded in thanks and relief.

"You can have the place where you last slept. I'll tend to your horse." With that she went out, a pail of horse feed in her hand. Arthur watched her go. She had taken that better than he had expected. For some reason he felt as though she was keeping something from him. Something important but he just couldn't put a finger on it. He was to tired to think about that now though so he found the old mattress he had slept on when he had last been there and fell asleep.


	6. Chapter Six

Merlin's stomach was somewhere around his ears as he fell through the air. Suddenly the floor came rushing up and he hit it shoulders first.

"Ok. That hurt." Merlin got up and rubbed his bruised and bashed shoulders. At least he hadn't broken something or died which could very easily have happened. It turned out that the hole had led to a drop of about ten meters or so. It had looked endless from the top.

The first thing he noticed about his surroundings was that there was a long passageway going away to his left. It looked like a huge gaping mouth of a very large creature. It was too dark to see how far it went or what it led to. He looked up. The sides of the tunnel he had fallen through were flat and smooth. There was no way he was going back up there. The sides were far too flat to climb. He would have to go down the tunnel.

There was something about it he didn't like. It seemed like it was beckoning him to go in and then, when he had, it would snap him up like a frog would a fly. Merlin hesitated for a moment. He really didn't want to go down that tunnel. Why did he have to jump?! Well there was no other option but to go down it.

Cautiously he began to walk down the passageway. It was light enough to be able to see but also dark enough to bump into things and Merlin stubbed his toes multiple times of a few of the smaller rocks.

For sometime the tunnel was small and narrow but at length it widened out and became a large cave. Suddenly there was a strange "splish" noise and Merlin felt something wet and sticky seeping through his shoes into his socks. Grimacing, he looked down and discovered that he had stood in something. He lent on the wall of the tunnel and inspected his shoe. There was a slimy substance pasted all over it. It looked like bat droppings. Wait…it was! Merlin looked up at the roof. Droppings plus cave equals bats and there were indeed hundreds of bats lining the ceiling of the cave.

Merlin stepped forward quietly, not wanting to wake them and cause them to panic. His foot squelched noisily in another pile of goo and he flinched. Another step caused a pebble to slide under his foot and roll away and the next he slipped on some moss. This sort of thing continued until the bats heard.

An eye, big, round and shiny, opened suddenly from above and blinked at Merlin. Merlin stared back at it, keeping as still as possible. Maybe it wouldn't see him.

The bat unfolded its abnormally large wings and screeched loudly. Suddenly a million other eyes opened and blinked at the young man who had intruded on them. In a split second the uncountable number of black creatures were flying hectically about the air, obscuring all vision, which had already been very little at best.

Merlin, his arms thrown up around his head to protect his face, ran for his life, bats hitting him relentlessly. One especially large one crashed headlong into his stomach and winded, he dived for the exit. He fell headfirst into a puddle of something he didn't want to know about and leapt up, scrabbling away down the tunnel. Suddenly he realized it was a different tunnel to the one he had come from. That had to be a bonus didn't it? Well only if this wasn't a dead end or something worse. Well there was only one way to find out so he began head off down the passageway.

"I made you breakfast."

Arthur reluctantly opened his eyes to see Hunith with a bowl before him and the light of morning shining through the window.

"Oh, thanks." Arthur took the bowl and Hunith busied herself with some sewing in a corner. Arthur eyed the bowl of pasty porridge warily. It was the same stuff as before but there was just more of it. He assumed that was because Ealdor's crop yield had been better this year seeing as there wasn't a thug around to pilfer them of it. He still remembered the awful taste of the stuff but this time there was no one to give it to so he gingerly began to eat the slop.

It turned out to not be as bad as he thought though it was of a weird textures that suck to the roof of your mouth like a sheet of wet paper.

"Well, you should be off…" Hunith piped up suddenly, "I've fed and watered your horse."

"Thank you." Arthur said, getting up and putting the empty bowl on a table. He gathered his things together and went out side, Hunith in tow.

He saddled his horse and hitched his rucksack on to the animals back.

"Good luck." Hunith said.

Arthur noticed she wasn't saying much but he couldn't blame her for being scared. If he had a son who had been kidnapped he would be just the same.

"Thanks. When I return I shall bring Merlin with me." Arthur said. He wanted to sound sure to her that he was able to rescues her son but the truth was that he wasn't certain at all. If the writer of the letter was indeed Nimueh's brother then chances are that he would also be a powerful sorcerer and that would make things only more difficult.

Saying his farewells Arthur shook the horse's reins and galloped away leaving an anxious Hunith behind.

He rode on for hours before he came to the bowl on the map. There was a steep slope going up very suddenly on the flat landscape and if you were to walk around it you discover that it was roughly round. There were tall ferns with stems the width of Arthur's arm going up the slope. It almost looked like a rainforest. On closer inspection the soil of the hill turned out to be spongy and peaty so Arthur would have to leave his horse behind on this one.

This was all very well but what was most strange was there was a sort of swirling mass of dark cloud twisted around the sky. Arthur was reminded of bedtime stories he had had read to him years ago about evil witches living in towers and ominous storm clouds whirling about in the sky. It was very unreal.

However Arthur tied his horse to a nearby tree and began to ascend the large slope. The ferns and plants were thickly planted and it was hard going. He eventually gave up trying to battle his way through them and began hacking at the plants with his sword. The peaty soil crumbled away every time he stepped on it and each step took him half a step back, which made progress slow.

Eventually, hot, sticky and sweaty (it was very humid among the bracken) he got to the top. The bowl was huge and with a greyness to it. Gnarled, spindly dead trees littered the clearing like fingers of ghosts reaching up to the sky. Tall thin rocks were also protruding from the ground like spears. Shadows were flitting around everywhere without anything to cast them and Arthur guessed that's where the valley got its name.

In the centre of the basin was a pyramid that instead of being pointed had a flat top and huge steps on each of its faces. It was made of a blackish grey rock of the same colour as everything else. If Arthur had been asked to choose three words to describe the place he would have chosen austere, spectral and bone chilling.

He guessed that Merlin (and his kidnapper) were inside the pyramid but to get to the pyramid he would have to cross the awful landscape before him.

The shadows were defiantly not friendly. Arthur had an alarming feeling that those shadows could kill. He didn't want to cross ways with them under any circumstances but if he was going to rescue Merlin then he would have to.

He shuffled his feet and looked back at the fields and woods behind him. It was strange. It was like this horrible basin like place had been plonked down in a completely random area.

"Come on Arthur. Be a man." He told himself, under his breath.

Cautiously he began to descend the slope that was at first grassy like the other side but soon seemed to have died and it became a scree of rocks and pebbles that cascaded down as he tumbled by them. As he came closer to the bottom it seemed as though the trees and long sharp rocks had grown taller and more threatening. Shadows hovered past everywhere like dark sheets of cloth being pulled over the ground. They had no shape, nothing that you could distinguish as a person or animal. They were just blob shaped. There were quite a few of them to. So many that there was just as much light as shadow.

Tentatively he took a step forward, being careful not to pass through any of the shadows. As he went further in the more shadows there became. Soon there was more dark than light and eventually only a few patches of white were left. Arthur, hopping from clear spot to clear spot to avoid the shadows, accessed whether there was a pattern in the shadows movements.

After a while he noticed that there was a pattern forming. One shadow would flicker on and off every three or so second and then there was a long clear line that had shadows moving across it every ten. After that they stopped. He would have to be fast but it was possible. Waiting for an opportune moment he hopped from one spot to the other.

The shadow floated fleetingly over the spot and Arthur leapt for it. His aim was accurate but not as much as his balance. His feet landed on the tiny patch of light but it was so small that he wobbled and fell forward onto his face, into the waiting shadow. What happened next happened so quickly Arthur didn't have time to react.

The shadow suddenly took shape of a wolf that was transparent and could have easily been mistaken for smoke apart from its blazing red eyes and drooling jaws. Arthur just had time to notice the glinting white teeth before the wolf flew at him. Instinctively he threw up his arms to protect himself but the shadowy smoke just went right through them. The creature latched onto his arm, its very real teeth sinking deep into his skin. Arthur yelled in pain and grabbed its muzzle with his good arm. His hand closed around it and didn't pass through.

He grappled with the beast as it tried to bite him again. It yanked its self-free, taking a hunk out of Arthur's arm in the process, and threw its head up, letting out a bone-chilling howl. Arthur jumped at its lapse of attention and tried to scramble away. He was but feet from the edge of the shadows when he felt it clamp its jaws over his foot. He snatched his foot away before its teeth could do any damage and rolled out of the shadows.

Jumping to his feet he whirled around to face the dog. It was pacing up and down the barrier of light and shadow snarling savagely. It looked absolutely livid but seeing that it could not get to Arthur it suddenly swished back to another of the drifting shadows. Arthur took a huge lungful of air and let it out slowly in relief. He suddenly noticed that his arm was pouring blood from where the wolf had bitten him. Looking down at it he saw it was nothing short of mangled. He ripped his tattered, blood soaked sleeve off and proceeded to wrap it around his arm to serve as a bandage until further notice. Despite his best efforts a steady dripping of blood was still drizzling onto the stony ground. The sudden blood loss was making him feel lightheaded but he had to ignore it. He had to get to the temple.


	7. Chapter Seven

Meanwhile Merlin had come across a particularly dark part of the passage. When I say dark I actually mean pitch black. He couldn't see a thing. In fact it was probably more help if he closed his eyes. He stumbled along in the dark, his hand running down the wall so that he would not loose himself in the blackness. Suddenly a noise erupted from somewhere, causing him to jump and almost hit his head on the ceiling. It was a clacking sort of noise like a woodpecker, but much louder. There was something eerie about it.

As the noise continued he eventually came out of the tunnel to enter another cavern. This one was huge, darkish and had a thin bridge of stone crossing over a gaping hole that surrounded a platform. The platform was wrought with long thin pattern that all, in one way or another, led to the centre of the surface. In the centre of the platform was a thing. It looked vaguely familiar somehow. The thing was sitting on a small boulder, its shoulders hunched and its back turned to Merlin. It was making the clacking noise. Merlin emerged from the tunnel and stood a few feet from the bridge. There was no other way out of this cave apart from where he had just come from so he was at a loss on what to do next.

The thing on the platform seemed to not have noticed him and Merlin preferred it that way for he had realized that it was in fact the living replica of the statue he had climbed earlier. It was exactly the same, four arms, black/green feathers and a hooked beak. All that was different was its size. Instead of being a hundred foot tall it was only eight foot tall even though that wasn't so short.

It was sitting rigidly facing the wall opposite and kept clacking its beak, the sound echoing of the walls. The noises it was making where inconsistent and in no particular order. Merlin wondered why the creature was doing it. It seemed pretty pointless.

He stood there for some time, too afraid to move in case his clumsiness showed him up again and it heard him. Suddenly he heard the faint patter of footsteps behind him, coming from the tunnel. The beast snapped it head around so quickly that Merlin was sure that if he had done it then his neck would have broken. It was even uglier in the flesh than the statue of it had been. Its eyes where jet black, shiny and soul piercing.

It was evil.

Merlin froze, his blood ice in his veins. He was petrified by its stare alone. He felt he was both alive and dead at the same time. He might have been to frightened to move but every single part of him was screaming for him to run. He was too caught up in it to notice someone enter the cavern via the shaft way. The person sailed past Merlin, crossing the bridge and went to stand by the loathsome monster. Benjamin, for that is who it was, seemed total undaunted by the vulgar creature. Merlin was too terror stricken to speak and he still had yet to acknowledged Benjamin's presence.

"This is the shrine of Ae'rathma. This," Benjamin indicated to the creature on his left, "is Ae'rathma himself. The lord of shadow."

Merlin swallowed, his eyes watering because they were so wide.

"I…uh…uh…" Was all that escaped his mouth. The creature was deplorable.

"I sense that the young Pendragon is at the entrance to the temple. It is time." Benjamin suddenly said, turning to Ae'rathma. Merlin did not like how Benjamin said, "It is time." It made his spine shiver.

The dreadful creature raised all four of it arms threateningly towards Merlin who still could not move. It pointed twenty clawed fingers at him and cawed a like a crow but far more loud and a lot more like stones being grated. Suddenly Merlin felt dizzy, like he had been spinning at high speed for hours. He was so giddy he barely even noticed when he hit the floor.

"Go my lord. Take his life. Use it as your own." Benjamin told the beast who loped across the bridge towards Merlin.

Meanwhile Arthur had finally climbed the huge steps to the top of the pyramid and was taking a breather. He told himself he had to get going, tightened the bandage around his arm and set off to the entrance of the pyramid. Thankfully it was an archway with no door so lock picking or knocking was not needed. Inside the temple there was a long hallway with several passageways going off in different directions on the walls, long vines and shrubs growing all over them, but it was clear that he should go down the hall. He drew his sword in case of anything attacking him as he felt like he was being watched.

Eventually he came to the end of the long hall to find a huge stone door blocking his pathway. He searched the walls around it for a lever or button that might open it and he found a long stone bar sticking out of the side. He tried pushing it down but only when he sat on it would it move. The huge doors swung slowly open, grating noises echoing about under the ground. When the doors had finally opened Arthur could see that the room it led to was large, rectangular and had a simply grotesque statue at one end. He apprehensively went in, wondering where Merlin was. Surely someone should have met him by now? This had to be right place!

As Arthur padded down the stone room he noticed that there was no way out other than the door he had come by. He searched the room as Merlin had done earlier and found no secret passageways or any other ways for that matter. At length it occurred to him that maybe there was something at the top of the statues head. And so it was that he discovered the hatchway that was still open from when Merlin had used it. He jumped down it and made his way along the shaft that he discovered. He passed through the cave of bats and the second darker tunnel and eventually, as Merlin had done, came to the cavernous shrine of Ae'rathma.

The place was empty save a familiar silhouette that was sitting, back turned, on a rock in the centre of the platform. Arthur squinted through the murky light. He'd know those skinny shoulders anywhere. It was Merlin!

"Merlin?" Arthur called.

"Arthur. Help me." The figure said but did not move. It was Merlin's voice but it was emotionless, completely different from his normal quirkiness.

What's more Arthur was having doubts. This seemed too easy. It must be a trap. But there was no one else in the room and he couldn't just leave Merlin when he needed help. He didn't look like he needed it though. He looked fine. Plus the bridge looked very precarious. None the less Arthur crossed it and went up to Merlin.

"Merlin?"

Merlin sat rigidly and stared at the wall. He was barely even breathing. Arthur waved his hand in Merlin's face and snapped his fingers. Still nothing. He put out a hand to his shoulder to shake his friend awake from this trance he seemed to be in. As soon as his hand touched Merlin the young mans head snapped up. Arthur jumped back at this sudden movement.

Merlin stood up and began walking slowly at Arthur, like his legs had not been used in years. For some reason Arthur instinctively stepped back, there was something wrong with Merlin and he could feel it.

"Merlin?" He said again, looking behind him at the edge of the platform that was coming ever closer.

"Don't run away Arthur. Come back." Merlin said, his eyes wide and unseeing, his head cocked to one side slightly.

"What's wrong with you?!" Arthur swerved away from the edge and continued backing away.

"There's nothing wrong with me."

It was obvious this was a lie. It was like Merlin was possessed by something.

"Snap out of it Merlin!" Arthur warned him dangerously.

"He can not, as you say, snap out of it." A voice suddenly said.

Arthur looked over the shoulder of the oncoming Merlin to see a boy, dark brown hair and about eleven or twelve, standing on the rock.

"Who are you?"

"My lord. Come to me." Was all the boy said. Strangely Merlin turned around and positioned himself at the boy's side.

"Who are you? What have you done to Merlin?" Arthur asked again.

"I am Benjamin. The writer of the letter."

"You? You are Nimueh's brother?" Arthur's head was once again becoming filled.

"Yes. As for what I have done to Merlin here the answer is nothing. My lord Ae'rathma is the one who has."

"What?! Who's Ae'rathma?"

"I am." Merlin said.

"Excuse me?!" Arthur said sarcastically.

"His lordship was weak. He had barely any life in him so he took Merlin's as his own. To use as his own. To be his own. I deemed it a worthy way to die for my sisters murderer."

"You've killed him?!" Arthur croaked, chocking on his words at the thought he might be to late.

"No." Merlin (I'll call him Ae'rathma from now on) said.

"What?" Benjamin whipped round confusion plastered on his face.

"There is something protecting him. He is alive but helpless and weak." Ae'rathma said.

"You told me he would die!"

"And so he shall in time."

"He's not going to die if I've got a say in things!" Arthur spat viciously.

"And how are you going to stop it?" Ae'rathma came up and faced Arthur. Arthur felt sick at seeing his friends features twisted into an ugly mask that was so unlike Merlin yet still his face.

"You're going to tell me." He managed to muster up, trying to sound brave.

"Ha! I think not!"

"I have changed my mind." Benjamin suddenly said from his perch on the rock.

"What?" Ae'rathma snapped his head around in the way that he did.

"If Merlin is not going to die now then I want you to release him. I shall kill them both personally."

"No."

"You must obey me or you shall suffer the consequences!" Benjamin shouted angrily.

"You are nothing but a boy!" Ae'rathma scoffed.

"But you know what I can do. Release him or die."

"You would not kill me."

"Try me."

Ae'rathma snorted and turned back to Arthur.

"We go on with the plan." He said.

"This is your last chance!" Benjamin warned viciously.

Ae'rathma continued to ignore Benjamin and began to advance on Arthur again.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on a second! Can I at least have a few last words?!" Arthur said backing away, trying to stall for time.

"No." Came the reply.

"I just want some questions answering and then you can carry on with killing me." Arthur said. He had more than enough thoughts whirling around his head and he wanted them answered. Of course he wasn't going to let anyone kill him afterwards but he needed to humour the creature that had taken over Merlin's body.

"What questions?" Benjamin demanded.

"I had no idea that Nimueh had been killed by anyone, let alone Merlin, until you sent me that letter. Plus Merlin couldn't have killed her. He's useless with a sword! And why did you call him a "great warlock" in the letter? You've got things mixed up by my reckoning!"

Benjamin and Ae'rathma both snorted in unison.

"I think it is you who have things mixed up. You must be blind not to have noticed!" Ae'rathma said in Merlin's voice. It made Arthur angry that someone was using Merlin's voice with out his consent but he ignored it.

"What do you mean?" Arthur said, sighing silently with relief that the subject of murdering had evaporated, for now at least.

"Merlin is a wizard! A sorcerer! A warlock! Whatever you prefer! I still can not belive that you have not noticed!" Benjamin almost laughed.

"Merlin, a sorcerer! You must be mad!" Arthur almost laughed to.

"It doesn't matter what you think Pendragon. Its time for you to die." Ae'rathma raised Merlin's arms threateningly over his head, which was a strange sight but it was probable that the creature still had it's own mannerisms not Merlin's.

Arthur drew his sword and directed it at Ae'rathma yet he still came at him. If the creature had looked like anything else Arthur would, without a second thought, have struck a blow to it but this opponent looked like his best friend and he couldn't bring himself to harm him. Fortunately he was saved by Benjamin.

"No! I told you I have changed my mind! I shall kill them myself!"

"Shut up."

"You made me do this!" Benjamin cried, his voice reverberating of the walls of the cave.

Ae'rathma completely ignored this threat and continued at Arthur who once again backed away.

"Terana ferva holly vira esan!" Benjamin yelled, throwing his hand forward at Ae'rathma, strongly reminding Arthur of a spoilt brat who wasn't getting his way.

What happened next was extremely strange. As soon as Benjamin had cast the spell Ae'rathma stood stock-still and began vibrating like somebody was shaking him. Suddenly a weird creature that was as ugly as ugly could get suddenly began to move out of Merlin. It was transparent and looked like a ghost being pulled away from poor Merlin who was slowly coming round and blinking dazedly. The ugly ghost thing was now becoming more and more solid by the second but also weaker as Merlin regained consciousness.

"What have you done!" The beast suddenly spoke for the first time in a horrible rasping caw very much like a crow.

"I warned you." Was all Benjamin said as the monstrous thing fell to its knees and began to crumple up like a sheet of paper being scrunched by a fist. It folded and crunched and caved in until there was but a small heap of feathers, which blew away like they were made of dust.


	8. Chapter Eight

"_What_ happened?!" Merlin shook himself.

"Welcome back to the land of the living!" Arthur said, pleased to see his friend was ok.

"He won't be for long and nether will you!" Benjamin shouted.

Both Merlin and Arthur had witnessed the power this boy possessed and knew not to take this threat lightly.

"Look, just calm down. I know your upset about your sister's death but it wasn't Merlin's fault. He didn't kill her!" Arthur tried desperately to reason with the boy.

Merlin quickly gathered his thoughts that were still swimming wildly around his head. Arthur must have been informed on the fact that he had killed Nimueh but the problem was whether he should deny it or not. Deny it and maybe Arthur would belive him but except it and Arthur might lop his head off. Arthur wouldn't do that though. The head loping that is. However Merlin decided not to risk it.

"How are you so sure?" Benjamin asked.

"Because I just know." Arthur said rather rubbishy.

"Enough of this! I will kill you!"

"Wait! Think about what your doing Benjamin. Do you really want to become a murderer? Could you live with yourself? Think about it." Merlin told the boy, even surprising Arthur with this new found wisdom.

"I…of course I…I'm not a kid!" Benjamin stuttered.

"Yes you are. Don't do this." Arthur said, taking a few steps towards Benjamin.

Benjamin stumbled off the rock and shrunk away.

"Back down! I'm warning you!"

Arthur had learnt in the short time he had known the boy that his threats were by no means hollow and stopped in his tracks.

"I am sorry about your sisters death. I truly am." Merlin said. Meaning every word of what he said. He was not proud of killing Nimueh even though she had been evil and had almost killed Gaius and countless others.

"What do you mean?! You killed her!" Benjamin cried, falling back a few steps.

Merlin knew that down right denying the fact he had killed Nimueh would only angry Benjamin more but admitting to it would cause Arthur to loose his trust in him so he just stayed silent.

"Stop saying that! Merlin didn't kill her! Did you?" Arthur directed the last question at Merlin.

"I…umm…" Merlin flicked his eyes from Arthur to Benjamin, not knowing what to do.

"What? You did?!" Arthur frowned, assuming that Merlin's silence was guilty, though not truly believing it.

Merlin thought quickly. Keep his magic secret and possibly anger Benjamin so much he would kill them both or admit the truth and die anyway. He had decided.

"No, of course not." He told Arthur, feeling hatred coming off Benjamin in waves.

"Do not lie warlock! You killed her!" Benjamin yelled.

"No, I did not. Don't call me a warlock ether. I don't have magic." Merlin said, hating that he was having to lie to Arthur about his magic yet again.

"Well that settles it. We are leaving!" Arthur said turning to go.

"Fine! Go!" Benjamin shouted, "But Merlin's staying!"

"Leave us alone! He said he didn't kill your sister!"

"_He_ is a liar, soon to be a dead one."

"No chance." Arthur pointed his sword at arms length at Benjamin.

"No, wait Arthur! Benjamin, you don't have to do this. You can come back with us. Start a new life. Forget everything! Revenge won't bring your sister back." Merlin tried desperately to persuade Benjamin to change. He hated seeing a boy so young like this and he wanted to help him.

Suddenly Benjamin seemed to listen for once and appeared to be mulling this offer over carefully. Merlin marvelled at the mature attitude the boy had suddenly adopted that was so unlike a child.

"Do you really think that Nimueh would want you to be like this?" Merlin knew the answer was probably yes but maybe Benjamin wouldn't see it like that.

"I…I…don't know…I…"

"Merlin! We can't have a sorcerer come back with us! Are you mad?" Arthur declared suddenly.

Benjamin looked up from his thoughts, looking suddenly scared and venerable.

"No it's all right. No one needs to know he's a sorcerer." Merlin took a few steps towards Benjamin, holding out a hand.

"Come on. You can come with us." He said.

Benjamin shrunk away from Merlin's hand like it was a poisonous snake. Merlin suddenly noticed that the boy was getting closer and closer to the edge of the platform.

"No! It's ok. Don't move." Merlin stretched his hand out further, trying to coax the young child towards him.

"No…stay away…" Benjamin took another step towards the edge, a few stones rolling off and falling into the endless darkness below.

Arthur had noticed to and tried to help Merlin.

"Don't move!" He yelled as Benjamin took a step that wasn't there and fell with a shout.

"No!" Merlin cried and leapt to the edge, kneeling down and peering over the side in a frenzy. Benjamin was clinging onto a small jutting out rock by one arm, his legs failing around in the air, a look of complete terror on his face, all traces of maturity gone. He just looked like any other frightened little boy.

"Grab my ankles!" Merlin yelled to Arthur, preparing to go over the edge.

"What?!"

"Just do it! I'm going to save him!"

"Wo-" Arthur began to protest but Merlin looked as though he was going over the side, Arthur holding him or not, so reluctantly he grabbed Merlin's feet and lowered him over the ledge, jamming his own feet into two small holes in the rock for support. Immediately his bad arm, the one the wolf had got to, began to hurt.

"Grab my hand!" Merlin shouted to Benjamin, reaching down for all he was worth.

"I can't!" Benjamin cried, tears of terror streaming down his face.

"Swing! Reach!"

Benjamin did as advised and began to swing precariously on his hand, reaching up with the other. Their hands touched briefly but the sweat on both of them caused them to slip away again.

"Lower me down further!" Merlin shouted up to Arthur.

Arthur bent his knees to achieve the maximum of his ability, flinching as his bad arm throbbed with the strain.

"I can't hold on!" He yelled, his feet slipping slowly out of the dents in the rock.

"Come on!" Merlin said, extending his arms to lengths he didn't even know were possible.

Benjamin had both hands on the jutting out rock but as he tried again to grab Merlin's hand one of them slid off, a few small pebbles falling off the ledge.

"MERLIN!" Arthur puffed. Hs arm wasn't going to take much more of this.

Benjamin's face suddenly took on a calm serenity. He knew he wasn't going to be able to reach Merlin's hand and he also knew that Arthur couldn't hold on forever and it would all end up with them all going over the edge. Merlin read the thoughts that were clear in Benjamin face.

"No." He chocked so quietly it was barely audible, shaking his head gently.

Benjamin's face briefly twitched with something that Merlin didn't have time to register and then with a final tear rolling down his face he let go.

Everything went into slow motion, time seemed to stop and Merlin lost all acknowledgement of everything around him, even sound. All he saw was Benjamin's body falling until the overwhelming blackness encased him. He didn't want to breath. He didn't need to breath. He didn't need to do anything. He just needed to stare, as if that would bring the boy back.

Arthur gave the final ounce of his energy and heaved Merlin onto the platform. His first concern was his arm, which had opened up again and needed rewrapping which he did. He looked at Merlin who seemed to have frozen, a glazed expression on his face.

"…Are you alright…?" Arthur asked. Merlin took a moment to turn his head.

"I could have saved him." He croaked. He could have done. He could have used his magic to help him but he hadn't. It hadn't occurred to him. He hadn't had enough time.

"It's my fault he's dead." He looked down at the floor.

"No. It's my fault." Arthur said, slumping down beside Merlin. "I should have lowed you down more."

"Don't blame yourself."

"I won't if you won't."

Merlin smiled.

Arthur got up and offered a hand down to Merlin.

"Come on. Lets go home."

The End


End file.
